


A Sound so Quiet

by Sleepy_Pupillia



Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Gen, Illustrations, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-11-28 13:40:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18209036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sleepy_Pupillia/pseuds/Sleepy_Pupillia
Summary: A Story:In which a girl is abandoned and taken in by two travelers. This story has multiple chapters, some of which may fall into a darker territory. The author, however, doesn't want bad endings, so there will rarely be any.(This is a story which mostly is for myself to let out emotions, I decided to post it though. I hope you all enjoy it.)





	1. In which a girl is abandoned and meets two travelers.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a girl is abandoned and meets two travelers.

Thud! Another thing came crashing out of the girl’s hand. Footsteps could be heard on the floor above her, this is bad! Before she could clean up the mess, however, she already heard the footsteps descending down the stairs. The only choice she had was to take the full blame, again.

“Why am I so useless, I can’t even make tea,” she could be heard sobbing in the kitchen, the mother just looked at her and scowled, “What a pathetic girl,” she must be thinking, “Unable to even make a small cup of tea. She must be chided non-the-less.”

 

However, where once was a child, sobbing and blaming herself for the broken cup, was only tears, dripping from an invisible face. The girl had wanted to disappear, and so she became invisible.

“Oh, this is annoying. I should just get rid of her now,” the blaming mother must have thought, as she approached the invisible, sobbing, girl. And subsequently took her by the cloth of her clothes, and dragged her outside into the forest.

 

She told the girl to stay put, and, not wanting to do anything wrong, again, she did. Even if she could guess, that the mother wasn’t going to come back.

 

A few hours passed, then a few more, until it had been a full day, and one night since the guardian of the girl had gone. The girl, not remembering the way back, and being certain that she would just get yelled at again, and blamed for something, she just stayed put.

On the second day, she heard footsteps approach.

 

 

She hid, as to not to be spotted, although she was invisible already. She was quite forgetful when frightened.

The footsteps drew closer and closer, it was not long until the girl could see who they belonged to. It was a Moomin, and a Snufkin, clad in in the color of flowers, holding in his hand a mouth organ.

 

She could hear them talking, the Moomin was running around, laughing and trying to make the Snufkin laugh too, and he succeeded. He began chuckling, and soon started playing a chipper song on his mouth organ. It was a happy song, about the people who care, and let you be alone when needed.

 

So happy, in fact, that the girl started sobbing, for she had never heard a melody so happy, this alerted the two travelers to her presence. The music stopped, and the two drew closer to where the sobbing came from. “Who is there?” they must have thought.

 

The girl, who had noticed that the music stopped, started sobbing harder, “Why did I have to cry? Now the happy melody is gone, and the two travelers will be angry with me,” she probably had thought.

 

However, once the Snufkin had found her in her hiding place, which was not the best, just a bush next to a tree, he called out to the Moomin, who came running to his side.

 

“Where are they? I can’t see them,” said the Moomin. The Snufkin pointed towards the tears falling from the air, it seemed like they had found her. The girl could have tried to run away, but a polite girl doesn’t run, she had been taught. So she sat there, sobbing to herself, as she was terribly frightened by what they would do to her.

 

The Moomin, who had stepped besides the girl, looked at the Snufkin, who still hadn’t stepped closer, and nodded. Not waiting for the Snufkin’s response, he said hello to the girl.

 

The girl tried to answer with a strained ‘hello’ herself, as it was polite to do, but the Moomin didn’t seem to notice her spoken words.

Waiting for a few seconds, the Moomin realized that her words probably couldn’t be heard, since her voice might have faded away. As it was pretty common for people, who had turned invisible, to also lose their voice. ‘How weird that we could hear her sobbing, then,’ he remarked.

 

The Snufkin had stepped closer, and whispered something to the Moomin, who in turn, whispered something back. The girl, who had stopped sobbing, at least a small bit, observed the two.

 

 

The whispered for at least a little while longer, until they seemed to have come to an agreement.

 

The Snufkin turned toward where he thought the girl was sitting, and said: “Would you like to come with us? We are currently on the way towards somewhere safe.”

 

The girl nodded in response, although they couldn’t see that. They could however hear the sound of cloth moving and the bush rattling as she stepped out of it. She had nowhere else to go, and it was impolite to refuse, at least that’s what she had been taught.

 

The Moomin smiled at her, something that she didn’t understand, for she had never seen someone smile so wholeheartedly towards her. She gave a look of confusion in response, something that nobody but her could see.

And so the two travelers took the girl with them, to a promised safe place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was somewhat nervous about posting this. In the end I decided to post it anyway though. I hope you enjoyed this (rather short) read! I want to make more chapters. So be on the lookout or that!
> 
> Also, short note: The Moomin and Snufkin might be different from the canon ones, since they are (at least in my mind,) different people from the canon ones.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That tells of the first few hours of travel with the travelers, and how the girl was first heard.

The chipper sound of a mouth organ could be heard from miles away, so could the beautiful singing, the girl however, only treaded obediently behind them, as the two travelers and her were on their way to this promised safe place.  
  
  


Sometimes it was thought, by the girl, that it might all be a trick, that they were going to hurt her, then the teachings of her mother came back into her mind, and she banished all those thoughts, bad things don’t happen to good people, and if they do, then they weren’t good enough. A obviously very flawed way of thinking, but who could she trust, when not family? It was thought, for she had been taught to value family above all.

The girl sometimes tripped, the Moomin or Snufkin, or both, usually stopped their singing and playing to help her up, if she had not gotten up already herself, when they helped her, a thank you was said, and an apology, when she had already gotten up herself, only an apology was whispered.

 

Not that they could hear her, of course. It was done out of courtesy, for if she didn’t, the Groke might come and freeze her on the spot.

A long while into walking, the Snufkin’s sleeve was tugged at by the girl, she wanted to take a break, or rather, had to take a break, she was awfully hungry, not to mention exhausted.

 

The Snufkin, at first confused, tried to guess what was being attempted to be told by her, the Moomin joined in the guessing game too, but even if they were right, an answer couldn’t exactly be spoken, and body language was impossible as well.

 

Suddenly, the Moomin had an idea. They reached into one of the pockets of their travelling coat, pulled out a little hair ornament, and gave it to the girl. They were confusedly looked at, by her. It was known by her what it was, but she was pretty unsure what was expected of her now.

 

The Moomin gave her a confirmation that she should put it in her hair, and so it was done. Now they could tell if her head was shook or bopped, as to confirm or deny their suggestions.

So they started guessing once again, the Snufkin asked if she wanted to rest, and her head bopped, slowly, but surely.

They spotted a small clearing in the trees, so they rested there for a while, the travelers took out some rations to snack on, handing the girl another few portions after seeing how fast the biscuit they gave her got eaten.

After the happiness of having eaten had subsided, the girl felt regret, for something had been taken, by her, from the two kind travelers. She said ‘I’m sorry’, and this time, she could be heard. It was only noticed by her when the Snufkin, in a cheeky tone, asked: “What for?”

 

The girl, in surprise at the answer, just became quiet. Meanwhile, the Moomin, was beaming with delight, for they thought her voice was pretty, the Snufkin, seeing their partners big grin, began laughing.

 

“See, even that cute sock puppet thinks it’s fine.” He could be heard saying, to which the Moomin retorted: “Of course, you plant-clad chip. I don’t see why it shouldn’t be.”

 

They teased each other, and laughed together for a while, only being looked upon with confusion by the girl, it was understood what they were feeling, but their sort of relationship was only fueled by fighting, was it not? At least that’s what was learned from her parents.

Once the laughter had subsided, the travelers were laying on the grass in the clearing, the girl sitting beside them, just looking, learning.

These two are very unlikely to mean her harm, it was thought. So she felt at peace, and started to feel sleepy.

It looked like their travels have to wait another few hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> I had trouble finishing a third illustration for this chapter, so I decided not to delay it any longer, and post it. I might add a third illustraion if I can make one that I'm happy with. 
> 
> Also, plant-clad chip is my favorite word combination, at this point in time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the travelers find something most peculiar in the woods, and the girl started to be seen.

In a dreamscape, it was dreamt, that something horrible was about to happen, that she would wake up to find herself alone once again. Unable to bear the thought for long, her dream dissolved and the light of a setting sun shone into her face.

She was awake, the Moomin and Snufkin sitting next to her, the Moomin’s head resting on the Snufkin’s lap. It was let out a sigh of relief. It looked like they were awake sooner than her, yet they didn’t wake her up, most peculiar, it was thought by her.

 

The Snufkin turned his head toward her and gave a warm and gentle smile. “Awake?” A nod was given as a reply. The Moomin slowly got up and rubbed their eyes. It seemed like they fell asleep for a short while again.

 

“Are you two ready to resume travels?” the Snufkin asked. A little nod was given again. Body language was preferred by the girl, still. Waiting for the Moomin to get out of their half-sleep, the Snufkin sat there patiently; they were looked upon in the ever present fascination that had been felt by the girl, since she had met the travelers. They were so gentle to each other. No malice could be felt between them. A stark difference to her parents, who couldn’t seem to go a day without getting annoyed by each other. 

 

The Moomin yawned one last time, and then told the Snufkin that they were also ready to continue. The two started packing the things they had unpacked previously, nothing was touched by the girl however, for she still feared of doing something wrong.

 

Once all the things had been packed, they started walking. The Moomin and Snufkin started chipperly playing and singing their travel songs, the girl, once again, only trailing behind them, but if you listened close enough you could hear a few silent notes being sung. Not loud enough to be heard through the travelers melody, however loud enough to help the girl have a little fun.

 

On their travels sometimes the three stopped at certain points that got their attention, be it through their beauty or to chat with a little creature (it was not that much spoken by the girl). It was deep in the night by the time they had to stop walking, the moonlight was especially bright that very night, you see. They did not sleep immediately however, the two travelers told the girl stories, as she listened obediently. She even tried to listen as she trailed off to sleep. The next morning came quickly, and the two travelers were not angry at her for falling asleep however, quite the contrary, and they were very happy that she had listened so interestedly.

 

They told her to just say so, when she wanted to sleep, however, for she had the right to go to sleep, and didn’t need to keep herself awake. A nod was given by the girl.

 

That seemed to be quite contrary to what she had been taught, she had to go to sleep when she was allowed to, not when she wanted, then she remembered that she had gone to sleep without permission in that clearing, and felt quite ashamed of her bad behavior.

The bad behavior was not bad behavior at all however; a person is always allowed to fall asleep if they are sleepy.  She, however, still muttered an apology, and they all carried on.  

 

Before they could come far, the Snufkin had spotted something interesting. A few steps away from where they had slept they found a little teacup, on this teacup there were beautiful pictures of flowers, and one eye, it was dirty however, it looked like it had been left here a long time ago.

The Moomin and Snufkin just enjoyed its beauty, and wanted to leave it there. As much as she disliked herself for it, however, a complaint was given by the girl. She could not bear leaving something abandoned alone in the forest. The Moomin smiled at her, and the Snufkin gave her a grin, for they had noticed something.

Her shoes were visible. A feeling of shame was felt by the girl, for she thought they were amused by her foolishness, and she quickly said that they could leave it, and so her entire body, besides the hair ornament, was invisible again.

The two travelers’ smiles dropped for a second, and then they picked up the teacup again, and held it in their hands. They asked the girl if she wanted to carry it. Surprise was felt, and she was silent for a little bit. Then she said, in a quiet tone, “Yes, please.”

 

So the Moomin took out a small napkin, and cleaned the cup, for they didn’t want the girl’s hands to become covered in dirt.

And so they continued walking, the girls shoes visible again, no, you could see her up to her knees. It was quietly sung along by her with travelers, louder than before, but still not loud enough to be heard through the melody. It didn’t matter to her at that moment, she was happy. It was also put extra care not to trip, and for the rest of the way, she didn’t trip.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!
> 
> I had fun working on the illustrations for this, the first one was a bit more complicated than what I usually draw. So it was a fun challenge. I liked designing the teacup, and I think I conveyed the feeling of being proud of someone in the Snufkin’s and Moomin’s face pretty well in the last one. (At least I hope so.) 
> 
> I limited myself to three illustrations for each chapter, because I don't want to overwhelm myself, and in this chapter it ended up being one (1) at the beginning and two (2) at the end.


End file.
